The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined to entertain an ex-assistant district attorney’s efforts to derail a former Philadelphia judge’s lawsuit over allegations that the prosecutor defamed him, which he said cost him a seat on the Court of Common Pleas bench.

The justices on Tuesday declined to take up an appeal in the case, which is captioned Melchiorre v. Haileab. The ruling comes several months after the Commonwealth Court denied defendant Simon Haileab’s request to have the case reviewed on an interlocutory basis.